Items

• 
  2020-11-04

  Architecture Studio During a Pandemic

  As college student studying architecture, it has been quite hard for me to adapt to this new reality of Covid-19. I would like to talk about is a picture that I received from a friend, of the current state of our studio space that we had last year. To put you in context, I have not been at school since December 2019, therefore I have not seen the measures put place by the school to allow students to use the architecture studio space. I was shocked and sad when I saw the picture because with all the preventions that the school put in place, I realized that the studio does not have the same feel and energy that it had before. I found it very sad because most of what made studio classes so fun was the fact that you could interact with people and talk about different projects and ideas. I can see most of this good energy is now gone and being at home is beginning to take its toll on everyone. This contact that we all cherished is now gone and it is getting harder to keep pushing forward.
• 
  2020-12-03

  Wentworth Facing Changes; The Architecture Studios

  the Architecture studio spaces in the Annex building on the Wentworth campus, have been divided into cubicles. This was quite a change of scenery compared to the wide open space it used to be. The dividers give each student a cubicle of their own to do their work in safely. It has been hard to get used to, for the culture of studio here has always been one of collaborative work, checking in on a neighbor, and being able to be creatively influenced by peers. All of these things have unfortunately been put on hold by the virus. Once a lively, active space is now quite quiet and low key. I look to the future to be able to offer students after me the same great experiences I have been fortunate to have in this space when at its fullest potential with no barriers in sight. the use of all Covid protective measures being used in the CNC space over at the CfAR labs in the Wentworth Annex building on campus. PPE measures are very important to uphold in lab spaces where students have to collaborate with one another in order to successfully carry out their projects in the Architecture Department. These two students are seen wearing face masks, face shields as well as staying 6’ apart in order to maintain safety regulations. It is important to follow these regulations in order to continue our collaborative work flow. It took some time to get used to and has given the students new challenges to face while trying to safely share ideas and drawings with one another as well as working together in the lab spaces. From leaning over desks to draw on the same paper, to sharing tools, most aspects of collaborative work in architecture school have had to be rewritten in order to keep each other and professors safe during these times.
• 
  2020-04-27

  Window Series #2

  In mid-march my school transitioned to virtual classes and sent everyone home for the semester. I've mostly been at home in Manhattan since then; the last time I rode the subway, previously a daily occurrence, was over six weeks ago now. At home and in the neighborhood nearby since then, I feel as though I can look out the window onto a previous version of myself that could not have anticipated any of this. I also feel as though I look at myself now through a window, because after over a month, this all still feels fake in a way. It’s as though time has been suspended and I’m watching myself filling that time that “doesn’t count.” There is a numbness that comes with not being able to do any of what we’re used to and not being able to see people who we thought nothing of seeing every day in the past. The window analogy is both a way of conceptualizing but also deliberately engaging in that numbness and removing oneself from the reality of the situation, perhaps on both a personal and global level. It’s also a way of rebuilding the wall that has been breached by collision of home with the spaces that are normally outside of it, like work and school, and are now part of the same physical setting, albeit digitally. This has made me think a lot about windows, which are everywhere in New York, and so I started to take pictures of windows in buildings I passed while going for walks. The windows themselves all look similar; despite differences in architectural style, they are all in essence the same glass barrier between inside and outside and public and private. It’s not something specific to life in a pandemic, but during this time it is especially relevant because for people staying mostly at home, our windows are potentially the only glimpse of the outside that we’ll see in a day. They divide our former lives and everything that we’d normally be doing outside of home from our current lives that have suspended many of those activities and digitized others. It’s easier to think about these private separate lives going on behind the windows I pass when there are fewer people out on the street. Normally the act of passing people as I walk is more engaging than what I can’t see in the closed-off apartment buildings, but now there is not a lot going on in the streets. It’s interesting to think I’m probably closer in distance to people behind the walls of the ground floors of buildings than the people I can see on the street, especially on the less busy streets that are particularly empty these days.
• 
  2020-04-27

  Window Series #1

  In mid-march my school transitioned to virtual classes and sent everyone home for the semester. I've mostly been at home in Manhattan since then; the last time I rode the subway, previously a daily occurrence, was over six weeks ago now. At home and in the neighborhood nearby since then, I feel as though I can look out the window onto a previous version of myself that could not have anticipated any of this. I also feel as though I look at myself now through a window, because after over a month, this all still feels fake in a way. It’s as though time has been suspended and I’m watching myself filling that time that “doesn’t count.” There is a numbness that comes with not being able to do any of what we’re used to and not being able to see people who we thought nothing of seeing every day in the past. The window analogy is both a way of conceptualizing but also deliberately engaging in that numbness and removing oneself from the reality of the situation, perhaps on both a personal and global level. It’s also a way of rebuilding the wall that has been breached by collision of home with the spaces that are normally outside of it, like work and school, and are now part of the same physical setting, albeit digitally. This has made me think a lot about windows, which are everywhere in New York, and so I started to take pictures of windows in buildings I passed while going for walks. The windows themselves all look similar; despite differences in architectural style, they are all in essence the same glass barrier between inside and outside and public and private. It’s not something specific to life in a pandemic, but during this time it is especially relevant because for people staying mostly at home, our windows are potentially the only glimpse of the outside that we’ll see in a day. They divide our former lives and everything that we’d normally be doing outside of home from our current lives that have suspended many of those activities and digitized others. It’s easier to think about these private separate lives going on behind the windows I pass when there are fewer people out on the street. Normally the act of passing people as I walk is more engaging than what I can’t see in the closed-off apartment buildings, but now there is not a lot going on in the streets. It’s interesting to think I’m probably closer in distance to people behind the walls of the ground floors of buildings than the people I can see on the street, especially on the less busy streets that are particularly empty these days.
• 
  2020-04-27

  REL

  Taking a deep breath and knowing we will get through this pandemic.